Holly and ivy were also primitive symbols for male and female and therefore fertility. The Church injected Christian meaning into the use of holly, making it a symbol for Jesus' crown of thorns. One legend says holly berries used to be white but Christ's blood left them with a permanent crimson stain. To Christians, decorating with evergreens symbolises eternal life through Jesus.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Why do we decorate with EVERGREENS?

Holly, ivy and mistletoe are some of the few plants that keep their leaves during the European midwinter, and were revered as symbolising everlasting life. Sprigs of green leaves were brought inside to provide a temporary haven for the tree-dwelling spirits that were seen to have deserted the rest of the forest for the winter.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Why do we have CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS?

Christmas stockings come from one of the stories about the kindness of St Nicholas (see Father Christmas) who is said to have wanted to secretly provide the dowry for a poor girl to enable her to marry, and so threw a purse of money down a chimney...and it landed in a stocking hung up by the fire to dry!

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Where did some of the well-known CHRISTMAS SONGS come from?

Jingle Bells was written in 1857! "White Christmas" was first sung by Bing Crosby in 1942, and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Two of the Christian version of this is that it should be made with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and His Disciples and that a sprig of holly is used to top the pudding as a reminder of the crown of thorns worn by Christ on the cross.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Flames from the brandy symbolise the heat of the returning sun and the sprig of holly - with its unique winter berries - evokes the fruit of the harvest.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

In theory, the pudding should be stirred by each member of the family in turn to show that everyone has done their bit, and only in an east-to-west direction, to mimic the sun's path across the sky.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

The Celts kept the harvest god Dagda happy by stirring a pot of porridge for him. This was later livened up with prunes to become plum porridge; then it turned into plum pudding, and finally today's Christmas pudding.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Electric tree lights were first used just 3 years after Thomas Edison had his first mass public demonstration of electric lights back in 1879. And in 1903 the Ever - Ready Company of New York began the mass production of stringed electric lights.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Prince Albert didn't introduce the Christmas Tree to Britain, but he was responsible for the mid-19th century onwards surge in popularity. The first manufactured Christmas tree ornaments were sold by Woolworths in 1880.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Pictures or symbols representing people and events in the Bible were hung from a bare branch to make up a sort of family tree of Jesus. Christmas trees were decorated with apples, cakes and sweets for many centuries, and also decorated with candles, to remind children of the stars in the sky at the time of the birth of Jesus.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

The Christmas tree points upwards to heaven reminding us of the Christ Child who pointed us to God. The "Jesse Tree" is a custom from the Middle Ages. It comes from the words 'A shoot shall come up from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a branch will bear fruit' (Isaiah 11. 1) Jesse was the father of King David and the Bible tells us that Jesus will be born 'of the house of David'.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Christian missionaries transferred the focus to firs, whose triangular shape they linked to the Holy Trinity, and people merged the idea of this tree with the tree seen in the Garden of Eden in the medieval "paradise plays"- depicting the story of man from Adam and Eve to the birth of Jesus- which had baubel like fruit hanging off it.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Twelfth Night also has its origins here: if the spirits were not released once midwinter had passed, the forests and fields might not awaken again.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

The belief that bad luck will follow if you leave Christmas decorations up past Twelfth Night also has its origins here: if the spirits were not released once midwinter had passed, the forests and fields might not awaken again.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Why do we have CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS and CHRISTMAS TREES?

To appease the tree spirits, people in the Dark Ages attached painted stones and coloured cloth to oak branches in midwinter.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Who first pulled a CHRISTMAS CRACKER?

Crackers were invented by Thomas Smith in 1846 as a way of attractively wrapping French novelties he was trying to get people to buy as Christmas gifts! For the full story see http://www.absolutelycrackers.com/hist_evolved.html

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

The growth of the postal service, and introduction of a flat rate for sending cards allowed this custom to spread, especially when steam trains speeded up the delivery of mail.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

In fact, until 1878, more Valentine’s cards were sent in the post each year than Christmas cards. However, just three years later in 1881, the Post Office issued its first public instruction to 'Post early for Christmas', to help manage the volume of festive mail.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

It took some time for Henry Cole's Christmas card idea to take root with the wider public.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

But in 1843 Henry Cole commissioned an artist friend to design the first Christmas card as a way of making his Christmas correspondance easier.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Who sent the first CHRISTMAS CARD?

Greeting cards were not new. Since Aloys Senefelder perfected lithography in 1796, merchants would send their customers best wishes for the new year.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Why do we eat CHRISTMAS CAKE?

These rich fruit cakes were a sensible celebratory food as they didn't spoil quickly, and could therefore be made in advance to have in ready for guests whenever they arrived, or could be taken on a journey to give as a gift, in days when travelling was a slow process. The fruitcake as we know it today evolved from plum cake recipes in England.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Finally, a small lighted candle is placed on top to symbolise Jesus Christ, Light of the World.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

A red ribbon is then tied around the centre of the orange as a reminder that Christ died for us all.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Fruit, nuts and sweets can then be attached to the cocktail sticks to represent the fruits of the Earth.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Each child is helped to take an orange (representing the World) and insert four cocktail sticks into it (representing the four seasons).

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Many churches and schools now hold Christingle services any time from Advent to the end of the Epiphany season.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

The tradition was kept alive by the Moravian church and in the United Kingdom was adopted by the Children's Society in the 1950s as a way of raising awareness of their work.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

He asked them to relight them at home and place them in their windows to show the Light of Christ to passers by.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

What is CHRISTINGLE?

The first Christingle service was held in Marienborn in Moravia in 1747, when the pastor, John de Wattville, wanting to find a new way of telling the Christmas story to children, gave each child a lighted candle tied with a red ribbon.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK